Meeting the Challenge to Have Fun

May 18, 2007 - Gord Welling

Each year, our Group holds a combined spring camp for all Sections. Our 100th Scout Anniversary sping camp was held at Camp Maskepetoon near Pigeon Lake, Alberta.

Much to our surprise, we faced snow and slush instead of the green grass, chirping birds and warm sunshine that we originally expected.

Camp goals

2nd St. Albert Scout Group holds an annual spring camp as a chance to get all youth programs together where we can:

• get leaders, parents and youth outside to enjoy nature and practise scouting skills
  
  
• give the senior scouts an opportunity to practise leadership skills in a challenging outdoor setting
  
  
• give leaders a chance to complete practical aspects of Woodbadge training
  
  
• let parents experience scouting with their kids

The gathering

Approximately 45 youth and 20 adults (parents, leaders and special guests) gathered at Camp Maskepetoon near Pigeon Lake during the weekend of April 20th - 22nd. We chose this camp because of the excellent building and facilities that it offered. As it turned out, that was a very wise decision. With up to six inches of freshly fallen snow on the ground, we had heated cabins for parents, cubs and beavers to sleep in and dry facilities to feed everyone from.

Cubs, Scouts, leaders and parents arrived at the Camp on Friday evening. Beavers, their parents and leaders were due to arrive the following morning, so we had a lot to do. We quickly organized everyone, let the Cubs and parents get settled into the bunk houses and the Scouts set up their tents near the lodge. After, we gathered everyone at the flag pole, where our Camp Chief, Scouter Brian welcomed everyone. Scouter Gord who acted as our safety officer and first aider and explained the emergency signals to everyone.

We organized the Scouts and Cubs into "Patrols" with a senior Scout in each patrol acting as the patrol leader. While the patrol members got to know one another, camp staff unloaded stores, prepared the lodge and cafeteria, and setup the emergency aid table. We finished the day with a mug-up of hot chocolate and snack, bedtime for the youth and a leaders coordinating meeting to sort out last minute logistical details.

Morning flag break

Following an early morning wake up call at 7 AM and a hearty breakfast of french toast or pancakes and sausage, we gathered outside in a horse shoe formation around the flag pole. Our senior scouts prepared the flag and performed the flag break and camp chief Scouter Brian officially opened the camp.

After explaining our camp theme of "Survivor", the scouts and cubs broke off into patrols to perform assigned tasks while we waited for the beavers and their parents to arrive.

Patrol leaders were tasked with getting their patrols to decide on a "tribe" name. Each patrol member was provided a solid color tribe buff to be worn throughout the camp. The rest of the time was spent working on a"tribe" skit, song and cheer for the formal campfire.

As beavers, their parents and leaders started to arrive on Saturday morning, they were assigned to a bunk house and then joined a patrol. After receiving a "tribe" buff and getting introduced to their patrol members, we gathered everyone at the flagpole and welcomed the newcomers to the camp. Scouter Gord explained the emergency signals to everyone and then led everyone in a safety walk-about around camp.

Survivor activities

Starting at 11 AM, we had enough time to start the "tribes" on their first of five "Survivor" activities before lunch. We had five "Survivor" stands that each patrol circulated through in a round-robin fashion. With 45 minutes provided for each stand, patrols had a full day of fun.

Each "Survivor" stand was designed to practise a scouting skill, encourage team work, and challenge everyone with something difficult to do that was fun.

Shooting compass bearings

Cubs and beavers were introduced to a compass for the first time and shown how to shoot a bearing.

A selected cub or scout would shoot a bearing and the "tribe" had to follow each bearing to find a small surveror's flag stuck into the ground. Each flag had a card with the bearing to shoot for the next leg. We had two different tracks, each with three or four legs to complete.

While the beavers had fun scurring around at the end of each leg searching for a flag, the cubs learned the importance of accuracy and how difficult following a bearing was. They soon learned that the instruction "go to that tree to your left" was somewhat frustrating.

Building a fire

One of the many features of Camp Maskepetoon is a permanent outdoor fireplace where camp fires can be built.

Under the guidance of Scouter Jon, each "tribe" was tasked with gathering the material to build a fire. Once completed, a scout was selected to start the fire.

This activity practise an important survival skill that reinforced the three important ingredients for building a successful fire:

• spark to ignite the fire
• plenty or dry fuel and how to prepare the kindling so that it will catch fire from the spark
• oxygen and how to build the fire to allow for adequate air flow

Patrol members learned the patience it takes to gather the needed material, prepare and light a fire.

Nothing breeds confidence like success. Each patrol was successful in building a fire and the last patrol to do so had the honour of lighting the fire that we would eventually use to cook our tinfoil dinners.

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